Google Chrome's New UI is Ugly, And People Are Very Angry (zdnet.com)

Catalin Cimpanu, writing for ZDNet: Every major user interface (UI) redesign project is a hit and miss game, and Google's new Chrome UI appears to be a colossal miss. Designed with mobile devices in mind, the new Chrome user interface style was officially rolled out in September this year, with the release of Chrome version 69. Not all users liked the new UI, and this was clear from the beginning, with some users voicing their discontent online even back then. However, those users who didn't appreciate the new lighter-toned Chrome interface had the option to visit the chrome://flags page and modify a Chrome setting and continue using Chrome's older UI.

But with Chrome version 71, released earlier this month, Google has removed the Chrome flag that allowed users to use the old UI. As you might imagine, this change did not go well, at all. Chrome's new UI might have been developed with a mobile-first approach in mind, but the UI is problematic on laptops and desktops, where its lighter tone and rounded tabs make it extremely hard to distinguish tabs from one another, especially when users open multiple tabs. Since being able to distinguish and switch between tabs at a fast pace is an important detail in most of today's internet-based jobs, many users have been having trouble adapting to the new UI both at work and at home, especially if they're the kind of people who deal with tens of tabs at the same time.

Comments

Re:Getting tired of this

[jon3k]

Agreed, it's using flat interfaces where you cannot spare a few pixels to create bevels to more clearly visually distinguish between elements. I realize that flat interface sure LOOK pretty, but the usability is objectively worse than the last generation of software applications with distinct, three dimensional controls and consistent set of toolkit widgets.

Re:Getting tired of this

[dfghjk]

"The trick is to make it fairly subtle."

There is no such thing as making Skeuomorphism "fairly subtle". You are using the term improperly.

Skeuomorphism is the literal imitating or mimicking of materials, it is not the implementing of subtle visual cues that provide visual complexity. It is the fake woodgrain or yellow lined notepad, not the shading of a UI widget.

Skeuomorphism is abhorrent and must die a painful death. Reducing "flatness" is not a "comeback" for Skeuomorphism.

Re: Getting tired of this

[TheGratefulNet]

I use the hobby i2s oled displays (common with arduino projects).

after 1 year of a calendar project being displayed on my oled single color display, there IS burn in.

this is a fact. you may not notice it but if you leave a pattern on oled, it DOES burn in. can't be helped with how oled works, today.

so, don't expect long life from them; and don't pay a lot for them since they WILL wear out. warranty won't cover it since displaying things on oled is destructive itself (like an old o'scope from tek that used phosphor for high persistence; that one kind of scope display destroyed itself a little each time you used it. LPs (records) are also like that. anything that wears down as you watch or listen to it - that's not long-term stable stuff, of course.